Lightning Blossoms
by ColdFrost
Summary: The circle receives bad news, Tris and Niko have to find the source. It is not only distance that will come between the members of the circle, love, hatred, fear, duty and above all the the thirst for revenge will try to keep them apart. (Chapter 7 now up
1. Default Chapter

This is my first fanfic, so be kind! Hope you like.

Disclaimer: none of these characters belong to me, they are all property of Tamora Pierce

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Briar stared glumly out of the window, looking at the pouring rain. There was no way he'd be able to go outside in the gardens today.

'Tris,' he complained.

'What?' she asked, not even raising her eyes from the heavy book she was reading.

'Can't you do something about the weather?' Briar asked impatiently.

'Sure,' Tris replied, surprising Briar. Niko had instilled a great reluctance to mess too heavily with the weather into Tris. Tris glanced out of the window, while Briar waited for her to move the rain. Five minutes later he was still waiting.

'Well…' he asked.

'Well what?' Tris asked irritably, not particularly happy about being interrupted every five minutes, while Briar moped around inside, looking longingly at the outside world.

'Aren't you going to do anything?'

'I have,' Tris snapped, 'will you let me read now?'

'You haven't done anything!' Briar complained, frustrated.

'I have so,' Tris replied angrily.

'What?!'

'I looked at it.'

'You looked at it,' he repeated.

'You didn't tell me what to do to the weather,' Tris fairly pointed out.

'You know what I meant'

'That's irrelevant. You should learn never to assume things. Anyway, you know Niko said I wasn't allowed to use my magic for selfish things.'

'It wouldn't be a selfish thing, you'd be doing it for me.'

Tris merely raised her eyebrows at the dark skinned boy sitting by the window. Briar started to reply when Lady Sandrilene walked in. 'Would you two please stop this infernal wrangling. It is extraordinarily annoying and I, unlike some others, am trying to work,' Sandry stormed out of the room. Briar watched Sandry leave the room with amusement, then he realised that she was in the middle of trying a new experiment with Lark; it took a lot to make Sandry cross. Now Tris, that was easy.

'Any _academic_ mage would have known what I was talking about.' Tris scowled at Briar's comment but would not allow herself to react. When he realised that Tris wasn't going to respond Briar poked his tongue out at her, admittedly it was slightly immature for a fifteen-year-old but you get that. Trisana didn't notice, as she was once again totally engrossed in her book. Briar sighed with boredom.

'Boy,' a voice he knew well called out. 'If you have nothing to do you can clean my workroom. And stop annoying your housemates.' Briar smiled wryly. Yes, he wanted something to do, but tidying a room that just got messed up the next day was not high on his to do list.

About an hour later Briar was finally into the rhythm of cleaning, Rosethorn was tending her inside herbs, Tris was still curled up in her favourite chair, reading her book, Lark and Sandry were busy weaving magic, and Briar presumed that Daja was with Frostpine doing something with metal. Suddenly hurried horse hooves broke the peace of the household. Tris looked up to see whom it was.

:_Coppercurls, who is it?: _Briar mindspoke to Tris.

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:Hang on, I can't see,: Tris peered into the rain. :_ It's Niko!: _she exclaimed and rushed to open the front door. She had not seen her mentor for three months, and had a lot she wished to talk to him about. Niko stood in the door way, tall and imposing as always.

'Niko,' Tris cried out happily, but the silver haired man brushed past her.

'Lark,' he called out.

Briar was still in Tris' mind, and felt her hurt as Niko ignored her. Briar realised that Tris was still sensitive about the fact that her family had given her away, she viewed the household of discipline as her family now, and Briar could tell how scared she was that they too would reject her.

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:Come on, lets see why he's here,: Briar mindspoke, without any of his usual sarcasm. Briar came out of Rosethorn's workroom, and with Tris headed towards Lark's room, which Niko had disappeared into.

Niko was talking softly to Lark and Sandry. 'I don't remember asking you two to join us,' he scolded. Briar but his hand on Tris' shoulder as she drew back, and he scowled at Niko.

'Sandry would just tell us when you left, anyway,' Briar pointed out.

'Fine,' Niko didn't try to argue. He knew the close mind link the four children had. 'I've got some bad news for you Sandry. This morning your uncle, Duke Vedris, was attacked,' Sandry gasped and the colour flowed out of her face.

'Is he okay?' she asked quickly.

'He's alive, but is unconscious. He is coming here to be nursed. I assume I can trust you to help look after him?' Niko didn't wait for an answer. 'Tris you will be coming with me. We need to find out who did this as soon as possible."

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Next chapter will come soon


	2. Chapter 2

Tris glowered at Niko's back. They had started riding to the city just after dusk, it was now nearing dawn. So far they had only stopped once, which was to change horses. At least she could shield them from the rain, so they weren't wet, as well as uncomfortable.

Tris remembered the look of horror on Sandry's face, when she had heard that one of her only living relatives was close to death. Niko had gone on to give more details about the attack. From what he knew, Niko told them that a group of warriors had ambushed the Duke on his way to the waterfront. All of the Duke's warriors had been slain, and the fisherman at the wharves had rescued the Duke, though he was unconscious. All of the attackers had managed to escape. Duke Vedris was being taken to Discipline at that very moment for treatment from Moonstream.

Briar watched Tris and Niko leave with apprehension; he had a feeling that everything would be different when his to friends returned. He thought that it was unfair that Niko hadn't given Tris a chance to say that she didn't want to go. Briar knew that Niko needed Tris' power to cast the spell to see the past, but was worried that Tris would push herself too far, to get Niko's approval

:Be careful, Tris,: Briar mindspoke. :You don't know what sort of people you might come across.:

:Briar, all I'm doing is helping Niko see the past. We aren't going into major warfare you know.:

:No, but you have a way of getting mixed up in all sorts of things,: Briar pointed out.

Tris snorted. :And you haven't? Briar, I can look after myself, besides, Niko is here as well, remember.:

:Okay, but I get to say I told you so, when things go wrong.:

Briar could feel Tris mentally scowl at him :Don't you have anything better to do than annoy me?:

:No, not really. Lark, Sandry and Daja are flapping around preparing things for the Duke. I was helping but I think I was getting underfoot, because they set me the task of staring out the window, to watch for him.:

:Well, you should pay attention to your job and leave me alone!:

:All you'll do is dwell on the men who attacked. I'm here for comic relief.:

:Don't let Sandry hear you talking like that,: Tris warned. :You know how she feels about her Uncle. How is she?:

:Why don't you ask her yourself? You won't be interrupting anything that can't be interrupted,:Briar pointed out.

:Alright, I'll talk to her. I'll talk to you tomorrow.:

:Bye, Coppercurls.: Tris made a rude sound at Briar, which made him grin.

Tris was about to talk to Sandry when Niko slowed to a halt outside a tavern. Tris shook her head; she must have been talking to Briar for longer than she realised. They were already at the waterfront.

'Are we going in?' Tris asked hopefully, wincing as she rearranged herself on the saddle.

'Yes, we are. You are in no condition to work serious magic tonight.'

'I am,' Tris disagreed. 'At least I would be if you had let us stop for more than five minutes,' she pointed out.

'I'm sorry. But if Duke Vedris dies, Emelan will go into turmoil. None of his sons are really fit to rule, if they were suddenly pushed into Vedris' position they'd panic. Only the Gods know what would happen then.'

Tris didn't point out that she knew that already, and that she too was concerned about Emelan. She just wanted to get off the bloody horse that had made the ride so uncomfortable. She knew it was useless to tell Niko that she was willing to do the magic now. Every so often he forgot that she was a full mage, and knew her own powers well; he still occasionally viewed her as a child.

Tris groaned as she dismounted, all of her muscles protesting. 'I'm going to have to start riding at least once a week,' Tris muttered to herself. At the beginning of the year she had had plans to do exercise every day, but, as usual, she had gotten sidetracked. She was still the same old plump girl, who had been made fun of when she first went to Winding Circle. Tris smiled wryly, it was amazing, what had happened since then.

Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Hi everyone.

Please review

Sandry looked up from the desk, where she was arranging the medicine she and Lark predicted Duke Vedris would need, and saw Briar standing in the doorway.

'He's here,' Briar announced. Sandry didn't answer; instead she pushed past Briar and rushed to the open door. Through it she saw Daja and Frostpine helping a group of warriors lift a heavy litter out of a black carriage. She felt a hand hold her back as she made to rush forward.

'Getting yourself wet is not going to help him,' Lark gently admonished. 'They can manage.'

Sandry looked up at her teacher and said, 'this is the sort of time we need Tris.'

'Yes. But I think we can manage without her for now.'

As Frostpine came past he told her, "I passed Rosethorn on the way here, she's gone to get Honoured Moonstream. She'll be here soon.'

Lark nodded and replied, 'put him in Briar room. We've arranged everything for him.' Frostpine inclined his head, and continued to carry the litter to Briars room, in which Sandry was waiting impatiently.

As they lowered Vedris onto the bed, Sandry gasped in horror as she saw her uncle. He was pale, paler than Sandry had ever seen him, and he lay lifelessly on the bed. 'Will he be alright?' Sandry worriedly asked Lark.

'I hope so.' Lark did not waste more time talking; instead she checked Vedris' pulse and temperature. Sandry watched as Lark frowned. 'Can you ask Briar if he or Rosethorn has a Libenacy plant.'

Sandry mindspoke the question to Briar, who was waiting for Rosethorn and Moonstream, while she asked what a Libenacy plant was. 'It is a very rare vine that has healing qualities. I think we are going to need it.'

Sandry winced at the seriousness of Lark's comment. 'Briar says they have one, he's getting it now.'

This was just a short one. I don't really like Sandry, but had to do this chap.

I promise the next one is better.

Please review


	4. Chapter 4

This is the newest version of this chap. I've added to it after reading some of the reviews.

Hope you like it.

Please review

Tris passed a miniature lightning bolt of magic to Niko. She shuddered as she watched him calmly cut into his palm and spill several drops of blood to seal the spell. Niko muttered words that he still hadn't taught Tris, and the air around them started to glow.

There was a group of the Dukes guards, riding alongside and behind, the hazy image of the Duke. Tris frowned; she remembered the last time she and Niko had performed this spell. She was sure it had been clearer then. In the image the guards and Duke Vedris were chatting together. Suddenly a guard yelled out in pain and slumped forward in his saddle, a black arrow in his chest. The image flickered, and then was gone.

For the first time since Tris had met him, Niko faltered, swaying slightly. Tris rushed forwards to support him.

'What's wrong?' she asked anxiously.

'Nothing. This spell takes a lot of effort that's all.'

'It's never given you trouble before,' Tris pointed out.

'I was younger then.'

'Do you want my magic? You should be able to complete the spell then.'

'You're offering me all of your magic?' Niko asked incredulously. 'You know what I have told you about giving people your magic. If I take it you won't have the strength to follow me.'

'That's ok. I know that you, Lark, Frost pine and Rosethorn are always saying "don't give away your power", but, like you said yesterday, finding out who tried to kill the Duke, is probably the most important thing that needs doing right now. I don't need to follow you. I'm sure you can tell me all about it.'

'Absolutely not. You know I won't do that.'

'Niko, you need to find out what happened. You've worn yourself out by running around, trying to solve too many problems all at once. The only way this spell is going to work is if you use my magic.'

'I still don't like the idea.'

'Nothing is going to happen. I'll just sit somewhere and wait while you cast the spell. You said it yourself, we need to find out who did it.'

'No. Tris, if you get used to giving your power away…'

'I'm only giving it to you. Besides, you don't know why they tried to kill the Duke. For all you know it was someone trying to get at Sandry, which places her in danger, which in turn places Daja, Briar and I in danger. Surely you want to prevent anything from happening to us.'

'You are trying to manipulate me,' Niko pointed out.

'But what if I'm right?'

Niko sighed. He had foreseen that danger was coming to the circle. For all he knew, Tris was right. 'Are you sure?'

Tris nodded in agreement.

'Ok. You'd better tell Daja and the others what you are going to do; or else they'll panic when they can't sense you. And ask how Vedris is.'

:Guys?: Tris mindspoke to Sandry, Briar and Daja.

:Yes?: was the quick response from all of them.

:How's the Duke?: Tris asked concernedly.

:No worse, but no better. It's an arrow wound to the chest. We are doing all we can.: Sandry said emotionlessly. Tris relayed the information to Niko. :Have you discovered who attacked him yet?: Sandry asked.

:No, we're…:

:What do you mean 'no'? Don't you realise that they might have used magic that we can't recognise? Cant you see that his life hangs on your haste?: Tris winced at Sandry's shrieking in her mind.

:Sandry, be quiet,: Daja ordered. :Tris hadn't finished talking.:

:Sorry Tris, go ahead.:

:Don't mind her Tris, she's just really worried and stressed out at the moment,: Daja said privately. Tris 'nodded' in Daja's mind.

:What I was going to say is I'm giving Niko all of my magic, so he can follow the attackers for a while. So don't panic when you can't sense me.:

:Oh, right,: Sandry said, ashamed.

:Wont it be a bit dangerous for you to be there alone, with no magic?: Briar asked Tris privately.

:I'll be fine. I have done dangerous stuff before. Anyway, you've never gotten all concerned before.: Briar didn't reply.

:Does Niko need our power?: Daja asked, unaware of the brief conversation between Tris and Briar.

:No, mine should be enough. I'd better give it to him now; he's starting to fidget. Bye.:

:Tris,: Briar called, his private mindspeech sounding strained to Tris.

:Yes?: she asked impatiently. She could se Niko frowning at the time she was taking.

Briar sighed, :never mind:

:Ok, I'll see you soon.:

:Bye.:

'Are they happy with our plan?' Niko asked.

'Yeah, it's fine.'

'You had better sit down somewhere, because you'll be weak when your magic goes.' Niko lead Tris over to a small table outside an eatery. 'Stay here, and what ever you do don't leave with anyone, unless you know them.'

'Niko I'm not a child.'

'Compared to me you are, and I won't forgive myself if something happens to you while I'm using your power. And before you say anything about being overprotective, I'd like to remind you that the Duke of Emelan just got attacked.'

'Fine, you win,' Tris conceded. 'Do you want my magic now?'

'Yes.' Tris 'looked' inside herself and found the core of her magic. She took hold of a lightning bolt and passed it to Niko. She passed the rest of her magic along the thread of magic until nothing was left. She sagged forwards and trembled. This was the second time she had given up her magic, but it had never made her feel this weak. She figured that it was because she was so much more powerful, and used to calling on her magic nearly every minute of the day.

'Are you Ok?' Niko asked.

Tris raised her head and nodded. 'Go and follow the Duke. I'll wait here,' she told him. Niko called up the spell again and trotted after the image. Tris smiled as she watched, sometimes Niko forgot that other people couldn't see magic. He looked like he was going for a run; a very ridiculous image in Niko's flowing clothes.

Tris had been sitting for about five minutes, when she heard someone walk behind her. 'She's the one,' somebody with a harsh accent muttered. Tris looked around to see whom they were talking about, when somebody placed a large callused hand over her mouth. Tris tried to scream as a large man picked her. She called upon her magic, but Niko had it. Tris' eyes widened as she realised that she had no way to defend herself. Something was placed over her head, and in the darkness she felt herself being carried away.

A cliff hanger (to a degree), annoying I know

Review and I'll write more.


	5. Chapter 5

I'm listening to depressing music at the moment, so excuse the dark and depressing bits (most of this chap).

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Tris tried to keep track of where she was being taken. But without being able to see, and with her limited knowledge of the waterfront, she concluded that she didn't have a clue as to where she and her captors were. She struggled against the man that was carrying her. He slapped Tris hard across the face. Even through the rough sack that was over her head the impact was enough to make her eyes water. She stopped struggling as he held a cold knife to her throat.

'I'd be still if I were you,' the large, brown haired man advised. The four men carried Tris to one of the worst parts of town. Because they kept to the rat infested alleyways, nobody noticed that they held her captive.

They went to a nondescript house. Tris could smell the alcohol and drugs that perfumed the air inside the building. The men carried her up the stairs into a dark, windowless room.

'Leave,' the brown haired man ordered the others. The men left through the only doorway, the dark haired man locked it behind them, before dropping Tris onto a filthy bed. He pulled Tris' arm above her head, making her cry out in pain as he jerked her arm. The terror was building up inside Tris; the fear overwhelming her. He quickly bound her wrist to the headboard, and repeated the exercise with her other arm. Only then did he remove the sack from her head. Tris pulled against the ropes tying her wrists, but they were too tight. She heard her captor walking about, though she could not see him in the dark room. The captor – called Rodent by his fellow street rats - looked at the young girl sprawled on her back across the bed. He could see quite clearly, although it was nearly pitch black, an ability given to him by the drugs he had long been addicted to. Rodent grinned maliciously as he thought of all the times people like her had double-crossed people like him. Now he would finally get his revenge. She looked so terrified; she was at his mercy. And Rodent wasn't feeling merciful.

Rodent walked towards her; he could smell and taste her fear, which only added to his excitement. Once again he held the cold metal blade to her throat. 'Make a noise, and I'll kill you,' he told her. He ran a calloused hand down the side of her face, to her neck. He could feel her trembling. Rodent smiled viciously; revenge was so sweet. He felt her tense, although the trembling continued, as he started to undo her dress.

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Sandry sat in a cane chair by the side of Duke Vedris' bed. He lay there, as still as if he was already dead. Sandry checked his temperature yet again, laying her cold hand across his fevered forehead. Sandry checked the bandages around his chest; the wound was still weeping. Sandry had listened to Lark talking to Rosethorn and Moonstream. It was an arrow wound, she had said. The arrow had punctured his lung, and would take a long time to heal, if it ever did. They did not know that Sandry had been listening through the doorway.

Daja peered into the room, 'You should get some sleep,' she advised. Sandry had not rested for about three days; with her work on the new weaving experiment, and now the Duke, Sandry could not sleep.

'I can't. I have to be here when he wakes up.' Sandry started to shake suddenly. Daja hurried forward and hugged her. 'What if he doesn't wake up?' Sandry whispered into Daja's shoulder. 'What will I do then?'

'You don't know what will happen. There's no point in asking yourself 'what if.' You have to be strong.'

'I know.' Sandry held onto Daja for comfort, tears rolling down her cheeks as she finally allowed her tears to over spill. Briar appeared, answering Daja's urgent mindcall.

'Sandry, it'll be ok,' Briar promised.

'You don't know that,' Sandry said.

'But you don't know that everything will go wrong,' Briar countered. 'We've been in enough bad situations before. You know you just have to keep going.' Briar knew that sounded hollow, but he didn't know what to say to Sandry. He never knew what to do when one of his housemates started crying. From his upbringing Briar had first viewed the tears as a problem for females to deal with, and normally ran away. But he was slowly learning that most of the time, just being there was enough.

'I hope Tris and Niko find the men who did this,' Sandry said fiercely. Briar raised his eyebrows at the venom in her words.

'I'm going to find them, even if Tris and Niko can't. I'm going to make them pay for what they've done to my uncle!' Sandry announced.

'Sandry, now really isn't the time to get all worked up about revenge,' Briar advised. 'Shouldn't you concentrate on getting your uncle well?'

Sandry looked at him, and the nodded. She would wait until her Uncle was well before she started her revenge. Daja sent mental congratulations to Briar, for diverting Sandry away from revenge.

They all turned around as the Duke moved. 'Sandry?' he asked blearily.

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Silent tears coursed down Tris' face. Her wrists were raw from her attempts to free them from the harsh bonds that restrained her. Her body and soul were hurt, her spirit almost broken. Once again she heard heavy footsteps, but this time Rodent headed towards the door. Hope built in Tris' heart, only to be quelled when Rodent yelled down the stairs, 'she's all yours,' to the other street rats. They climbed up the stairs and into the bedroom. Tris felt a hand run over her bare flesh.

They were all going to have.

All going to destroy her.

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Sandry stepped towards her Uncle. He smiled slowly up at her, taking in the tearstains upon her cheeks and the bags under her eyes. 'I see you've been mothering me again,' Vedris gently teased her. He was dismayed when she burst into tears again. 'Don't cry Sandry. Don't cry. I'm fine now.' He held his arms out to her and she fell into his them, hugging him as hard as he was her.

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Tris couldn't help it. As yet another man came into the room, she screamed out. Rodent immediately reacted by hitting her, hard, across the face. In that moment Tris lost consciousness.

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Niko yawned in exhaustion. He had followed the attackers for as far as he could, and had learnt more than he wanted to know about them.

He was nearly back at the eatery were he had left Tris. With a negligent flick of his hand he sent her magic back.

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Tris' magic rushed through her veins, burning. One of the men watched in wonder as miniature lightning bolts played across her skin.

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Sandry was talking quietly to her Uncle, when she felt a sudden burst of panic and pain coming from Tris. From the kitchen she heard Daja and Briar yell out 'Tris!'

As suddenly as it had come, the burst of emotion left. 'Tris,' each of the called out in mindspeech. There was no reply. They each sent out their own minds towards Tris, but came up against a barrier. 'She's cut us off,' Daja whispered in horror. What had gone wrong?

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Though Tris could usually control her magic, she was unconscious and was too hurt and upset to even notice that her magic had returned. A man put his hand on her; he fell back with a yell, his hand scorched by the lightning.

Then all hell broke loose…

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Niko reached the eatery. Tris wasn't there. Don't panic, he told himself. She may have gone inside. She wasn't there. He quickly probed with his mind, searching for her. He found her, unconscious and unaware that he was probing for her. He was blocked from her mind, something that had never happened before. When he 'saw' the other people that were there, he started running. And panicking.

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Without any control the lightning leaped of Tris, hitting everyone that was in the room. It fed off her panic and when it struck, it struck to kill, not to injure. Tris' hair blew in the wind that rushed to join with her magic. The door flew open. The men tried to flee. No man escaped, as a mini thunderstorm grew in the room. The only person who remained unscathed was Tris, at the center of the destruction.

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I hope you liked the story (that sounds so wrong, considering the fact that I've just written about rape, so maybe 'like' is the wrong word).

Hopefully the next chapter will be happier, but I don't know yet.

In case you were wondering where I got the story line:

I was doing a school project that involved researching rape. The statistics were shocking , only a small percentage of reported rapes are actually solved. But the statistics were not the worst things. The stories of survivors show that rape can ruin everything and destroy your life.

I thought it was a good story line to show the total destruction of innocence.


	6. Chap 6

Sandry, Daja and Briar were panicking. It had been a few hours since they had received the mind-thought of panic from Tris, and they had heard nothing else since. They had told Lark and Rosethorn, but the only thing the two teachers had been able to tell the trio, was to be patient, and that they would find out what was happening as soon as they heard from Tris again. Briar had tried to point out the faults in this theory; as far as he could see, if Tris had reason to block them out, it wasn't overly likely that she was going to drop her shields within the next couple of minutes. But Lark and Rosethorn were already stressed over Duke Vedris, and hadn't been paying attention to Briar.

The Duke had dozed off soon after he had awoken, his slumber was still restless, and he murmured incoherently a lot. He was still very weak; so weak that Lark, Moonstream and Rosethorn suspected that the arrow had been poisoned with an unknown type of magic. Sandry sat beside her uncle; still refusing to rest. 'I hope nothing interfered with Niko following the attackers,' Sandry said in the silence. Briar glared at her, but had enough sense to send his thoughts to Daja, not Sandry. :We have no idea if Tris is safe. But as long as we find the Duke's attackers everything is fine,: Briar mindspoke Daja angrily.

:She didn't mean it like that,: Daja soothed, :I know that she is worried about Tris too.: Briar frowned, but did not reply. Once again he sent a thought to Tris, but came up against a solid shield. Briar bit his lip in worry. He couldn't even tell how far away she was.

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A few hours later

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Briar was dozing in the armchair by the window looking out at the pathway. He was awoken suddenly by heavy hors hooves trotting up the main trail outside. He glanced out of the window and saw Niko step down out of a dark coloured carriage. 'At least it's stopped raining,' Briar irrelevantly thought as he rushed out of Discipline. Briar barely stopped to open the gate as he ran to the hors drawn carriage. He paused when he looked at Niko; Niko appeared to be haggard, and his eyes were red as he watched Briar approach.

'Tell the girls to get Lark and Rosethorn out her. And Frostpine too.' Niko's tone, so devoid of emotion, scared Briar, who immediately followed Niko's instructions.

:But they're tending my Uncle,: Sandry protested, torn between her family and her friend.

:Now Sandry!: Briar thought yelled at her, terrified of the way Niko looked and was behaving. The five people exited Discipline at a run.

'What's wrong?' Lark asked, concerned. Rosethorn did not waste time with words; instead she exchanged a quick look with Niko. She opened the carriage and looked in. Rosethorn's eyes widened in horror, and she gasped as she took an involuntary step back. The others all quickly stepped up to see what had horrified Rosethorn. Tris was lying across a litter, covered by a black coat, her arms and face heavily bruised. Miniature lightning bolts created a glowing force field around her, not allowing anyone to come within a foot of her.

'What happened?' Sandry whispered. Daja and Briar only grimaced. They were more aware of the horrors of the real world, than Sandry was, courtesy of her sheltered upbringing.

Rosethorn snarled and snapped at Niko, 'who?'

Niko shook his head and replied, 'We have to get her inside. Don't touch the lightning; it's already killed.'

Everyone looked up in surprise, aware that Tris usually had her magic under strict control, but Rosethorn muttered, 'good.'

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TBC

Thanks to everybody who reviewed.

I've read what you have said and I changed it so from now on mind speech is in : : and normal speech in ' '

I changed the other chaps as well.

I promise I'll write another chap soon.

Please review.


	7. Chapter 7

This chapter isn't very good, I've kind of lost the thread, but tell me whether you like it, and point out any spelling / grammatical errors!

Thanks

Chapter Seven

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Three days later

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Briar and Daja sat at Tris' bedside, their faces pale with worry. It had been three days since Niko had brought her home, and still the mini-lightning bolts played across her skin. Daja, Sandry and Briar were the only ones who dared to go near. Niko believed that the combining of their powers had made them immune, or at least, less vulnerable, to Tris' attacks than anyone else.

They had carried her up to the attack on the litter; Honoured Moonstream had tried to reach out to Tris, but came up against the solid shield; no one could break it. Honoured Moonstream dared not touch her, even though a physical link might have broken the barrier.

Briar and Daja turned simultaneously as they heard footsteps coming towards Tris' room. Sandry arrived in the doorway. Sandry was gaunt, the strain and stress of the last few days beginning to catch up with her. Dark circles were under her eyes, and she winced as she stretched in the doorway, lifting her arms above her head. 'Is there any change?' she asked softly.

Briar shook his head, 'No. How's you're uncle?'

'He's all right. He's still very weak though.'

Daja looked closely and Sandry. 'You should get some sleep,' she advised.

'I'm fine.'

'Sandry, you're not fine. I know you've been trying to help everyone, but if you collapse from exhaustion, you're not going to be helping anyone.' Daja played on Sandry's sense of responsibility. Daja knew that Sandry didn't want to be a burden, especially now that Lark, Rosethorn and Niko were all busy looking after Duke Vedris and Tris, as well as looking for the attackers.

Sandry pulled a face at Daja. "Alright. But you have to get me if anything happens."

"We will, now go and get some rest!" Daja ordered. Sandry complied, and turned to walk to her room.

Duke Vedris was sitting back against a pile of pillows, talking quietly to Lark and Rosethorn. "How is Trisana?"

"We don't know. Nobody can get close enough to even see if she needs healing, let alone heal her. We can't do anything until she wakes up," Lark informed him.

"So her magic is still not under control?"

"No. It harms anyone that touches it, except for Daja, Briar and Sandry. But even they can't break through the barrier that Tris has up. We don't even know how she constructed the barrier, especially as she did it subconsciously. They have never been able to block each other out like that. I think that has the children more worried than anything else." Lark continued to bring the Duke up to date about what was going on.

"Does anyone know who was behind the plot?"

"Niko's working on it. It's difficult, as all of her attackers were killed by the lightning,"

"Good riddance," Rosethorn interrupted bitterly. Lark gave her a Look.

"Perhaps," Lark agreed, "But that means we have no one to question, and that Tris allowed her power to kill."

"She was unconscious, you can't blame her," Rosethorn cried out, incensed. "Besides her magic has killed before, and everyone treated her like the savior of Winding Circle; remember the pirate attack?"

"I'm not blaming her, I'm just saying that she might not forgive herself. You remember how she was after the pirate attack. She felt guilty for months."

"Lark, Rosethorn." The adults turned towards the door, hearing the rapid banging of somebody running towards them. Daja leaned inside the doorway briefly, "She's awake." Rosethorn and Lark leaped up, pausing only to make Duke Vedris remain in his bed. They rushed towards Tris' room, Daja already there. They entered and saw Tris laying there, still in the same position that she had been in for the past few days, her eyes slightly open and looking around in confusion. She ignored the ungraceful entry of Lark and Rosethorn, instead lifting her hand close to her face to see it clearly without her glasses. She looked in amazement at the miniature lightning bolts that raced across her skin. Her eyes widened as she noticed the abrasions on her wrists. The memories came rushing back to her, and she started to shake uncontrollably.

Outside, the wind started to increase its speed, and the rain started to fall more heavily. Briar was the first to notice the connection between the fast-brewing thunderstorm outside and Tris. Sandry arrived, disheveled and out of breath. "Thanks for telling me," she said sarcastically to no one in particular. Briar paid no attention to the rebuke; instead he sat beside Tris and snapped at her, "Stop it. You have to get the weather under control." Sandry was about to tell him off for his lack of sensitivity when a bolt of lightning struck a tree nearby. She winced at the loud boom the tree made as half of it hit the ground. It had been severed in two by the bolt of lightning.

Briar could tell that Tris wasn't hearing what was being said, her concentration locked on the terrible memories that were returning in a flood. Briar threw all caution to the wind and placed his hands on Tris' arms, ignoring the dashing lightning. "Not a good idea," Rosethorn muttered, but she was well aware that Briar wouldn't listen to her.

"Tris, listen to me." The feel of hands upon her arms startled Tris, and her feelings were replicated by the storm outside, as it deployed another lightning bolt. She stared in fear at Briar; there was no sign of recognition in her eyes. Briar thought desperately of a way to make Tris realise who he was. He sensed the barrier that had previously been unbreakable, and could feel that it wasn't as strong as before.

: Tris!: he yelled in mindspeech. He felt the barrier start to crumble as his call made its way through. Tris looked up, sensing the concern that was coming, not only from Briar, but from Daja and Sandry too.

:Tris. You have to get control of the storm.: Briar told her, looking worriedly at the weather outside. Tris looked at him, then nodded. She sent her magical self out, and carefully separated the main parts of the storm, and sent them in different directions. It was still raining when she returned to her body, but it was gentle now.

Tris gazed around while lowly getting the lightning that was playing across her skin to fade. She was still shaking, wasn't very aware that Briar still ha his hands on her arms. "Tris?" he said softly. Tris tried to ignore the care in his voice but could not. She lost her battle with tears and felt Daja and Sandry sit beside her. "It'll be ok," Sandry murmured comfortingly.

Tris did not reply, but thought to herself, _It will never be ok._

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Please review! I know not a lot happened, but I have a better idea of what's going to happen in the next chapter, so bear with me


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